The Winking Skeever smelled of Ale and sweat. I had three people in mind for this little operation. one I would need to hire, one wanted Jaree-Ra dead, and the last wanted a bit of spice in his life.
Lisette was sing a song I didn't recognize. Wish i did, it sounded pretty good. II saw the first person i wanted to recruit at the Inn's reception. I walked over with a smile, "Hello? Can I get a room to sleep in for tonight?"
Sorex looked up, "Yeah. That will be 10 gold."
I rubbed the back of my neck. "I don't suppose you will take these?"
I held out a Golden Atmora. Sorex looked confused, "Can I see that?"
I nodded and let him look it over. "It is smaller than a septim. I've never seen this type of gold before though."
Sorex's father walked over, "What's up?"
Sorex handed the golden Atmora to his father. "They want to pay with these."
Corpulus inspected the coin. "It's smaller then the normal septim. It is real gold though. They look like ancient nord coins. Though... They seem very new and shiny. What are these?"
I rubbed the back of my neck. "Eh, its a golden Atmora. They are common where I come from. As we don't use the imperial septim."
Corpulus raised an eyebrow. "A golden Atmora? Like the place in ancient nord fables?"
I nodded and Corpulus gave a nod. "He can pay with them. They are smaller then actual spetims though so you have to pay double using these."
I smiled and nodded, Sorex handed a key to me as I passed him 20 coins. "So how did this place get its name."
Sorex looked up and sighed, "Ah, my father claims he had a pet skeever that would wink at him. However truth is he had this weird furless dog he bought of a merchant from hammerfell. He named the darn thing Skeever since its lack of fur."
I nodded, "Are you gonna inherit this place from him then?"
He laughed, "I basically run the place already. I manage the deliveries, the patrons, the only thing I don't handle completely is the ledgers. Even then I do most of the work on them." He sighed, "I don't mind taking care of the plawce. However I don't want to do this my whole life. I thought about joining the imperial legion. However I'm not a big fan of the war."
I nodded, "Right, you were at the execution of that Roggvir guy."
Sorex smirked, "Yeah, known him since child hood. He was a huge bully and ultimately not many liked the guy. Before his execution he was all about joining the storm cloaks. One of the reason I thought about joining the legion. Just to piss him off."
I looked around, Jaree-Ra had one more sibling. It was Gulum-Ei, but he had no connection to the black bloods. I still didn't want the guy to overhear and tip off his brother. Finding no sign of the guy I turned back to Sorex.
I asked him, "Have you ever thought about talking to Captain Aldis? You may not leave Solitude, but he has all sorts of more adventurous tasks for those who want them. With the war effort all the more miscellaneous things are left open. Though you might need to fight."
Sorex raised an eyebrow, "fight what?"
I shrugged, "Wolves, Bandits, maybe a dragon or two."
"Ha! That's fair, I'll ask him." Sorex grabbed a towel and went back to wiping down tables.
{Speechcraft 17}
I jumped, it seems my speechcraft was at work. Now that I think about it I likely leveled it up during my talk with Captain Aldis too. After all I never actually told him my name. I looked at my level and saw I had only a little bit left before level 2. I think I was scammed with the skill trees. As long as you put points into proficiency you would learn it faster. I'll find out more once I have a skill point and I am able to sleep to use said skill point.
I asked, "Can I get a drink, just some basic Ale will do."
Sorex nodded, "Its 4 septims."
I placed 8 coins on the counter and he took them. I grabbed the Ale and wandered over to a table with a man dress in armor. He was eating a plate of potatoes. When I sat down he looked up. He asked, "What do you want?"
I shrugged, "You are a mercenary, right?"
He nodded, "Though not much work lately. At least not the type of work I want."
I sipped a bit of my ale. "Not willing to cut down bandits for the local guards?"
He smirked, "Heh, I'd rather work as a bodyguard for a measly 500 gold. The name is Belrand by the way, I assume you wish to employ me?"
I gave a half hearted shrug, "Sort of. Depends on two things, if you are willing to do the job and if you are willing to except these."
He looked over the Golden Atmora I gave him. He rubbed his chin, "You paying to stay here with these?"
I nodded, "They are smaller than the normal septim. So 2 of these are 1 septim."
He thought for a moment, "What's the job?"
Seemed he was willing to get paid with the coins I had. "It is a job for Captain Aldis. We plan on taking down some pirates. Soldiers can't be spared so it will be just us. The only guarantees are me and Aldis. We hope to gather a few more."
Belrand did some thinking, "Pirates? Do you mean the black bloods?"
I nodded, and Belrand put his fork down. "Sure, I'll help. I could use a little more action in my life. You mentioned you were looking for more men for this job? If you talk to Ahtar I'm sure he would be happy to help. He's the headsman, here in solitude. He's right over there drinking that Black-Briar Mead."
I couldn't help but smirk, that's the guy I wanted to recruit. I nodded, and was about to pull out the gold to pay him however he shook his head. "Ah, I doubt those will be much use to me. If this is a job from Captain Aldis. I'm sure I can get some money from him."
I smiled and nodded, "Then I'll be off to try and recruit Ahtar for this mission. "
He raised his fork once more and nodded, "Good luck. He's a man for justice mind you."
Oh I knew exactly how to get him to help. I got up and wandered over to Ahtar. When I sat down he looked at me, "That seat is taken I am waiting for someone."
I nodded, "I'm sure its Jala right? She's your girlfriend? Don't worry the moment she arrives I'll leave. However i want to talk to you about a recently escaped prisoner."
Ahtar paused, then nodded. "Alright, but once she shows up you are gone you hear."
I gave an okay and began to talk. "So to begin Hargar he escape from prison recently right? Pretty weird how that happened."
Ahtar nodded, "Yeah, he was scheduled for the block. He's the leader and captain of the black blood marauders. When he escaped I tired to catch him, however I lost him not to long ago."
I gave a knowing smirk. "Well i just recently came to Solitude, when coming here we were attacked by pirates. Would you like to know who was on that pirate ship that attack the ship i came in on?"
Ahtar gave a toothy grin, "Hargar! You know where he is then?"
I waved my hands, "Not only do I have a guess at where he is. I know who helped him escape prison."
Jala walked up, "Who's this?"
I looked at her and nodded, "My name is Vek Frostwane. I'm just discussing work."
Before I left Ahtar called out, "Whatever it is, I'm in."
I nodded, "Talk to Captain Aldis then, he knows the plan."
Ahtar laughed, and Jala gave him a question look. Seems as if he will have to explain himself.
I looked at my journal...
{Speechcraft 21}
{Level 2}
I smiled, I had leveled up. Which means when I go to sleep tonight it will be all the sweeter.